The ERC will become a dangerous agent. It must be stopped

Feb 24, 2011 Features / Columnists, Freddie Kissoon

It is the view of many political observers that as the 2011 national election begins to take shape, Juan Edghill ( I chose not to use, Bishop), under the rubric of the defunct Ethnic Relations Commission, will attempt to silence views and analyses of state discrimination against certain type of constituencies since the PPP came to power in 1992.
At the moment Edghill is facing his worst moment of official crisis since the ERC was born.
It is for other stakeholders to join the PNC, GAP, AFC, TUC, and sections of the Guyana media community to demand the cessation of Edghill’s present posture of making pronouncements of behalf of the ERC now that there is incontrovertible evidence that Edghill has deceived the nation on the ERC.
I ask readers to note that each time I refer to the ERC in this commentary here, I don’t mean the essence of the ERC which is the Commissioners (only two Commissioners presently are still active). I have in mind the Office of the ERC consisting of its Chairman Juan Edghill and its CEO, Ms. Yvonne Langevine
Here is some evidence that should induce us to seek the removal of Edghill. In response to my statement that UNDP consultant, Lawrence Latchmansingh undertook a project which sought to determine how a wide cross section of the Guyanese community conceives of the ERC and submitted a report, this is what the ERC stated in this newspaper (February 10, 2011, letter pages): “The ERC never commissioned a study to determine how the people of Guyana perceive the ERC. No such study was ever commissioned by the ERC.”
I need to point out that I deliberately chose not to publish the title of Mr. Latchmansingh’s document out of fear that one missing word can lead to the accusation that I haven’t got it right
In direct contradiction, Mr. Trevor Benn of the UNDP told TUC President, Mr. Norris Witter, that the report is not available as yet because the ERC is demanding changes and Mr. Latchmansingh cannot alter his findings. To date, no word from the ERC.
In this newspaper of February 12, GAP’s Parliamentarian, Everall Franklyn, supported my claim that there is such a document, detailed what were the findings and called upon Juan Edghill to make it available. To date, no word from Edghill.
In the February 15 edition of KN, TUC President, Witter described his conversation with the CEO of the ERC on his request for a copy of the very report. He was told that it is a private paper. Mr. Witter further wrote that he is in receipt of a letter from the CEO explaining that the Latchmansingh submission cannot be given to him.
Clearly the ERC is lying.
Below is further evidence of another lie. In its letter to this newspaper (Feb 10), the ERC’s words included the following; “The ERC wishes to state that contrary to what Kissoon stated, the CEO denies ever telling Mr. Norris Witter that the Chairman (Edghill) instructed that the document was not available.”
Here are the words of Mr. Witter in this very newspaper; “Mrs. Langevine called and informed me that Bishop Edghill has advised her that the document was a private one and the GTUC is not entitled to a copy.”
I will now present the Guyanese people with evidence of a display of egregious deception by the ERC which should now drive the final nail in the coffin of the ERC. Readers are told in the ERC’s missive of February 10 that the Commissioners of the ERC include the Labour Movement.
The ERC went on to state; “All of our Commissioners are privy to any document, report or study conducted by the ERC.” Yet Norris Witter has a letter from Ms. Langevine that instructs him to know that “the document is a private one and the GTUC is not entitled to a copy.”
Any decent person can see that the ERC is making an ass of itself. On the one hand, it states that the Labour Movement is an ERC Commissioner, goes on to claim that ERC reports are made available to its Commissioners, then tells the GTUC, which is a quintessential part of the labour movement of Guyana, that it cannot see the Latchmansingh project.
The ERC has finally run out legality, credibility and sensibility. I end by informing readers that the certain press bodies and a major national stakeholder are consulting their respective lawyers about the legality of the ERC. The ERC is dead

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The ERC will become a dangerous agent. It must be stopped

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